Flights from Tucson to Guaymas expected to start in the fall

Six months after an announcement that airline service would begin between Tucson and Guaymas, Sonora, the flights have yet to materialize.

Interest has been high, with Star readers inquiring weekly as to a start date.

“The delay was a conscious decision,” said Frank Jackson, owner of Paradise Air, which is coordinating the air service with carrier Caljet Elite Airways, based in Carlsbad, California.

“When we first started we were only going to fly Tucson-Phoenix-Guaymas,” he said.

Now the airline has signed a code-sharing agreement with United and American airlines so travelers from other parts of the U.S. can book one ticket all the way through to Guaymas, by changing planes in Phoenix or Tucson.

“They won’t have to claim their luggage or leave security,” Jackson said. “It’ll be a regular change of planes, inner-terminal. That’s a big deal.”

Paradise Air also joined the global travel network so Guaymas will be a destination on all travel websites, such as Expedia and Travelocity.

“We’ve greatly expanded our market,” Jackson said.

The goal is for the first flight to take off this fall. The reservation system is expected to be up and running “any day now,” he said.

Two websites, paradisesandsmex.com and imexicotravel.com, are being updated with the latest information on when tickets will be available to purchase. There’s also a Facebook page that can be found by searching paradise-air-mexico.

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Local officials are still anticipating the flights, said David Hatfield, a spokesman for Tucson International Airport.

“By all indications, they seem to be moving forward,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a delay, it’s just getting everything together. It’s a lot of work and the devil’s in the details.”

Once the airline has route authority in the United States, permits from TIA can be “pencil-whipped through in days,” Hatfield said. “I’ve got to believe we’re close.”

Antonio Berumen Preciado, director of tourism for the state of Sonora, said the flights will be a nice complement to the new regional flights within the state.

Last month, three regional flights were inaugurated between Puerto Peñasco and the Sonoran cites of Ciudad Obregon and Hermosillo, as well as Tijuana in neighboring Baja California.

And, Mexican airline Aeromar will begin nonstop service between Tucson and Hermosillo in October.

“It’s a done deal,” Berumen said of the flights, which will be four times a week between Tucson and Sonora’s capital.

“Guaymas will be the second wave,” he said. “And, that’s the best season for visiting the beaches in Mexico.”

Berumen said Sonora and Arizona are in talks about marketing the region jointly.

“Arizona promotes itself in Chicago, New York and San Francisco; we do the same thing,” he said. “Now we want to do it together so tourists who come to Arizona visit Sonora and, likewise, tourists in Sonora visit Arizona.”